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The Earth is Still the Earth
Absolutely.
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A Virtual Hug
A little more than two years ago, I wrote a celebration of the feeling of “coming home” that has so frequently characterized people’s responses as they join the Atheopagan community. Since then, the Atheopaganism Facebook group has doubled in size. We have had amazing, informative, stimulating and heartfelt conversations, which have generally remained civil even on fraught subjects. We have supported each other in difficult times. It’s been awhile, so I just want to say how appreciative I am—and how proud—of the community of folks who have gathered around these ideas, this blog and the Facebook group. It helps me stay motivated to continue writing and creating, to continue strategizing ways we can…
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A Reflection at Dusk
Days are noticeably shorter now. The coastal fog cycle native to my region is sputtering with the weakened power of the Sun, so we have days of heat followed by days half of which are soft and gray, burning off only in the afternoons to sun. Autumn is here. Usually, this is a joyous realization for me. I love the fall, with its colorful leaves, spectacular sunsets, skulls and bones and pumpkins. Autumn feels like the reaping of rewards long striven for, the achievement of the year’s culmination. This year is a little different. It feels as though I have suffered many blows and time is running out to secure…
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What If We Are Screwed?
John Halstead very eloquently and thoroughly puts the question to us in his post “’Everything is Going According to Plan’”: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene”. Take time to read the whole thing. It’s well worth it. So really: what if it’s simply too late for any kind of peaceful transition to a sustainable post-disastrous civilization, and a messy and bloody collapse of industrial capitalism and Earth biodiversity in the context of skyrocketing global warming is now firmly set on course? It could be true. It may very well be true. What does this mean to us as Atheopagans, when we state explicitly that it is a part of our ethos to…
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Moon Meet 2018—Some Lessons
Our second annual Moon Meet gathering was not what I expected it to be, but it was still wonderful. A cascade of last-minute cancellations brought our numbers down radically, to a core group of six, all of whom had been at the gathering the previous year. I was disappointed not to meet new Atheopagans who had registered for the event but had to cancel, but so it goes: things happen. Moon Meet 2018 was more of a retreat, rather than a community gathering. We discussed it, and we think there are multiple reasons for this. Asking for a three day block of time is a lot, and the logistics of reaching…
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Naturalism, Monism, and the Philosophy of Atheopaganism
Atheopaganism is a naturalistic religion: that is, we believe that all that exists is a part of the natural, material Universe, and is subject to its laws. We revere this material Universe—the Cosmos—as Sacred and magnificent. As naturalistic Pagans, we do not subscribe to the idea that there is an Otherworld within which reside magical and/or disembodied entities such as gods, spirits, ghosts or fairies. We expect scientifically credible evidence in order to support a proposed idea with our belief, and there simply is none for this Otherworld and its supposed residents. A part of this naturalistic approach is monism: the idea that the body and the consciousness are not distinct, that there…
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Reemergence
As regular readers know, I broke my arm at a Pagan event three weeks ago. Since, I have been contending with lining up a specialist to do surgery to reset it, having the surgery, and recovery. I am in the boring phase of this process. I can’t do much, and I’m chained to my bed where I await the alarm for taking pills every two hours. Even though I can type with two hands now, I have been bone-dry for ideas about what to write on. And with a broken arm, I can’t very well do much on my job search…especially on a Saturday. Meanwhile, Moon Meet is a week off…
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Let’s Talk Talismans!
Here’s my latest post, about talismans. Post yours in the comments!
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A Gift to the Community
An anonymous artist has gifted the two beautiful images below for non-commercial usage of the Atheopagan community. Enjoy–print for your Focus or wherever you’d like a reminder of your Atheopagan practice! The artist would like to acknowledge https://www.myfreetextures.com which provided background textures. These images are licensed for non-commercial usage only, with attribution to artist Basil May, under the Creative Commons intellectual property license.
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One-Handed Ponderings and Updates
It’s been more than a week since I broke my arm, and as a result, my writing has slowed to a crawl. Between pain, ongoing hassles with trying to arrange medical care, and the simple inconvenience of typing one-handed, this is no longer the easy medium it has always been for me. I’ve done a proof-of-concept video on the Atheopagan YouTube channel and I will try to keep updates coming there. But one thing about having only one arm is that simple dressing and grooming become very challenging, and I’d rather not vid myself while looking like a pale naked Swamp Thing. So we’ll see. I have spoken with an Atheopaganism Facebook…
